A Second Miracle
by Kelira Telian
Summary: After 12 years of waiting, Emiru has found Lulu once more. But not her Lulu, not the one who left her so long ago. Perhaps, just maybe, there is one last miracle. A story of Emiru and Lulu in 2030, right after the end of Hugtto Precure.


Aisaki Emiru was crying.

This was, honestly, not unusual. She cried a lot when she was alone. Only when she was alone. She hadn't cried in front of others since that day, twelve years before. She'd put on a brave face, the face she'd practiced night after night, for that day. And she hadn't taken it off. Hana, Saaya, Homare, they all thought she was fine. Her brother and Henri, they never knew it was just an ill-fitting mask. Her manager, her band, her fans. They all knew Aisaki Emiru, herald of a new generation of rock music. None of them knew.

Every night she cried herself to sleep. Every night for twelve years. Every night she relived that day. Every night Lulu left her once more.

When she'd given Doctor Traum the letter from his other self, the one who'd left for another future, he'd asked if she really wanted this. She told him yes. She had no other choice. Even a copy of Lulu was enough. It had to be. She had to be. The hole in her heart couldn't be filled by anything else. She'd tried. Oh, she'd tried. Through high-school and as an adult, a string of disastrous relationships. A litany of purple-haired girls and women who could tell that they were being judged, compared against someone else. The longest was six months, that was also the last, over three years ago now.

Emiru remembered a story she once saw, of a witch whose beloved daughter died. Through magic she made a copy, with all the daughter's memories. At first, she loved the girl as much as her original daughter, but as time passed doubts piled up. Would she have done that? Would she have said that? This wasn't really her daughter, it was someone else, a stranger wearing her daughter's face and voice. She grew to hate the girl, imposed unimaginable cruelties upon her. Until one day the girl left, having found someone who truly loved her. In the witch's last moments, the girl reached out to her, giving her one last chance to be the mother she should have been. The witch knocked the hand away, falling to oblivion instead of accepting that her daughter was dead, but she had another daughter who lived.

"Emiru?" A hand touched her cheek. Small and soft, trying to wipe her tears away. "Is something wrong, Emiru?" She looked down, large eyes framed by that so familiar purple hair looked up, the smile that had been there replaced by a worried frown. "Did Lulu do something?" Emiru touched the girl's hand with her own, wiping her own tears away with her other hand.

"No, not at all. I'm just, remembering things." She reached into her bag to get a tissue. Could she do it? Could she accept this Lulu? Or would she be like the witch? Would she grow to hate this girl? This girl who's done nothing wrong, except be born to satisfy someone else's own desire? This wasn't her Lulu, could never be her Lulu. What did she want? Did she want to raise a daughter who looked like Lulu? Was she going to groom this girl to be a future partner? Neither was what she wanted. The first is what she should do, the second was what she feared she'd do, assuming she didn't push her away before that.

Digging through her bag, filled as always with more than she needed, her hand touched something hard and plastic. Two such things, in fact. The PreHearts. Hers and Lulu's. She always kept them with her. She didn't know why. Unlike the others she'd never transformed after that day. Hana and Saaya and Homare had continued to do so, less now, but still every so often there were sightings of Cure Yell, Cure Ange and Cure Etoile. She'd told Hana once that she couldn't transform without Lulu, but the truth was she'd never tried. She didn't want to know if she could do it on her own. That day, that horrible day, she found Lulu's in her room. She didn't know why Lulu left it, but it was there, sitting next to her guitar, a handwritten note underneath. 'For when we meet again.'

Emiru pulled the PreHearts out of her bag. They felt so small, and for all their power they just seemed like slightly chintzy kid's toys. The Miracle Crystals nestled on them were dark, their shine long gone. "Whats that?" The little Lulu looked over Emiru's arm at the PreHearts.

Emiru opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything, Lulu reached out, her hand grasping the one with the purple jewel. "No, don't!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, she wanted to take them back immediately. Lulu's face fell, the sharp rebuke unexpected and hurtful. But before either Emiru or Lulu could move, both PreHearts seemed to explode with light. The Miracle Jewels blazed crimson and purple, the light filled the small laboratory room they still sat in, overpowering everything else.

Hands gripped PreHearts. One large, one small. Their other hands found each other, a small hand nestled in a larger one. Emiru recognized this immediately, it was the feeling every time they transformed. When she'd become Cure Ma'cherie, and Lulu would become Cure Amour. It was more than just a light, it was their feelings and love blending together, transforming them into the Precure of Love. It wasn't just a title, it was the very foundation of their power. She felt Lulu's feelings, this Lulu, the little girl whose hand was clasped in her own. They were nebulous, a mixture of confusion and fear, with a tiny bit of hope mixed in. Hope? Hope for what?

A realization struck Emiru, if she could feel Lulu's feelings then, she looked at the girl, whose face was wrenched in pain, clearly struggling to withstand the tsunami of emotions Emiru was unleashing on her. "No! Stop! Don't do this to her!" Emiru yelled, at who she couldn't say. At Harry, at Hugtan, at whoever had created these devices to begin with. "She hasn't done anything wrong! I am the one who deserves to suffer, not her!" Lulu pulled her hand from Emiru's and stood, her knees buckling from the storm of emotions. She wrapped her arms around Emiru and pulled her tight, the PreHeart still clutched in one tiny hand.

"I understand now, why I was born. I'm glad I met you, Emiru." The Miracle Jewels were blazing like suns, the PreHearts pulsing like beating hearts. Emiru hugged the girl back, tears streaming down her face.

"Wait, no! Don't…not for me! Don't do this for me! I don't deserve this! I don't deserve anything!" She screamed at anyone who would listen. The light from the Miracle Jewels surrounded Lulu, the girl becoming a swirl of red and purple. The light too much for Emiru to withstand, the PreHeart in her hand felt like it would explode at any moment. "Please, don't do this." The words were choked between sobs, as she felt the girl push away from her arms. "Lulu I…." Her words were cut off as the Miracle Jewels on both PreHearts exploded, and suddenly it was over.

"Emiru." A voice in the distance. "Emiru." Closer, it sounded familiar. "Emiru!" A hand touched her cheek, "Emiru!" Her eyes flickered open, struggling to focus. The lab…the room where the Little Lulu was born…and where she…wait, what? That voice, it couldn't be!

"Lulu!" Emiru threw herself forwards, towards a shape she could still only dimly make out. She felt herself caught, by strong yet soft arms that pulled her tight.

"Emiru." That achingly familiar voice, that she'd heard every night in her dreams. "I'm so sorry, Emiru." Her eyes were focusing once again, but she couldn't believe them. The lab was in ruins, the machinery all but destroyed. But right in the middle, where Emiru had been sitting with the little Lulu, was spared from the destruction.

Tears fell once more. "Lulu! Lulu! Lulu!" She hugged Lulu back, felt the warmth of her body against her own. "I missed you so much, Lulu." They stood there in the destroyed lab, simply holding each other for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Lulu pulled back, just enough to look Emiru in the face.

"You grew, Emiru." She had a slightly wry smile, one that she'd only rarely show. Emiru realized she and Lulu were now the same height, in fact Lulu might be just a bit shorter, if not for her pumps. "You're beautiful." Lulu blushed slightly as she said it.

Emiru turned bright red. "Thank you." She managed to stammer out. "How did…" she trailed off. "Oh no, what happened to her? No! I didn't want it like this!" The realization of what happened crashed down on Emiru like a sledgehammer. "She shouldn't have done it, not for me." She slumped back down to the floor, pulling her knees to her face. "I'm sorry, Lulu. To be like this, when you've finally returned."

Lulu knelt in front of Emiru. "I heard her. She used the PreHearts to call out to me." Lulu took one of Emiru's hands and placed it on her chest. "She felt your pain, your suffering, and with the power of the PreHearts and Miracle Jewels, made a second miracle happen." Emiru looked up, her eyes filled with tears. "You were right, she's not me. She could never be me, but she's also not gone." Lulu put her hand on top of Emiru's, pushing it further against her own chest. "I took her body, but she's still in here, and I can transfer her to a new body, once Doctor Traum can make a new one." Lulu glanced at the destroyed machinery. "I'm sure he can fix it, he's very capable." Emiru couldn't suppress a giggle at Lulu even now not willing to complement her father without seeming backhanded about it. "There, that's the Emiru I love." She cupped Emiru's cheek and leaned closer.

"Lulu!" Emiru was startled when she realized what Lulu was doing.

"Do you object?" Lulu's eyes glittered.

"N-no…" Emiru had once dreamed of this day, before her dreams had become a never-ending nightmare. "Its just…well…" she glanced away, her cheeks bright red. "It's my first time."

"What a coincidence, its mine as well." Lulu leaned all the way in and their lips met. After a few moments Lulu pulled away slightly. "I'm home." She almost whispered.

"Welcome back." Emiru replied, before pulling Lulu down to meet her lips once more.

-True End-


End file.
